SHELTON, CONN. — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. has secured a $7.6 million cash-out refinancing for Bridge Street Commons, a mixed-use property located at 50 Bridge St. in Shelton. The building consists of 43 residential units and 7,000 square feet of commercial space. Robert Bhat of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. secured a 15-year loan with a fixed rate of 5 percent for the undisclosed borrower. The lender was Fannie Mae.
NORTH STONINGTON, CONN. — Electric Boat Corp. has signed a 125,000-square-foot lease at a flex building located at 25 Norwich Westerly Road in North Stonington. The building consists of 53,376 square feet of office space and 72,439 square feet of warehouse space. Electric Boat Corp. will occupy the entire building based on their expansion requirements. Colliers International represented the landlord, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, in the transaction. CBRE/New England represented the tenant.
STAMFORD, CONN. — Northeast Private Client Group has arranged the $35 million sale of The Moderne Apartments, a 116-unit, two-building multifamily community in Stamford. The sales price equates to a capitalization rate of 5.4 percent based on the first year of net operating income. Bradley Balletto, Rich Edwards and Jeff Wright of Northeast Private Client Group represented the seller, RMS Cos., in the transaction. The buyer was Navarino Acquisitions LLC.
America’s $3.5 trillion retail sector is going through tough times. E-commerce has cut into the conventional brick-and-mortar market by roughly 12 percent, an impact that has decreased rents, increased retail vacan- cies and left landlords increasingly anxious. But even in this period of widespread adjustment, the number of store openings nationwide has outpaced closings. We see this in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with first-quarter vacancy rates in 2018 totaling 3.7 percent, 30 basis points lower than one year ago, according to CoStar Group. The retailers that aren’t surviving are those that aren’t adapting to con- temporary market dynamics. Techno- logical and social disintermediation create the chaotic decision-making process of adapt or perish. Still, amid today’s anxieties, here are three examples of adaptation that offer promise. Selling an Experience Stores that are succeeding today are often the ones that have realized that retail is now less about selling goods and more about selling an experience. Below we offer two examples in Fairfield County, both designed to add a stimulating overlay of experience into typically more tepid retail settings. The first illustration of a retail experience is the indoor adventure ropes course located within furniture and mattress retailer Jordan’s 150,000-square-foot showroom along New Haven’s Long Wharf. Touted …
NEWTOWN, CONN. — Senior Lifestyle Corp. has broken ground on Church Hill Village, a 71-unit assisted living and memory care community in Newtown, located approximately midway between New York City and Hartford. The community will feature 49 assisted living apartments and 22 memory care apartments. The 66,000-square-foot building will be situated on four acres. Development partners for the project include Teton Capital Co. and JRP Architects. The community is scheduled to open in summer 2019.
MERIDEN, CONN. — Pennrose has opened Meriden Commons I, a 75-unit multifamily community in Meriden. The community is the first of a two-phase transit oriented development that will bring 151 mixed-income apartment units and more than 6,500 square feet of retail space to the City of Meriden. Once completed in the fall of 2019, Meriden Commons II will consist of 76 mixed-income apartments. Located at 161 and 177 State St., Meriden Commons I and II are within close proximity to downtown Meriden and Meriden’s Amtrak Center.
WINDSOR, CONN. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $20 million Freddie Mac, first mortgage loan for Windsor Station, a 130-unit multifamily community in Windsor. Built in 2017, the property sits on 6.5 acres and comprises two four-story buildings. Tom Peloquin of KeyBank arranged the non-recourse, fixed-rate financing with a 12-year term, six years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan will be used to refinance existing debt. The lender was undisclosed. Lexington Partners LLC and LAZ Investments developed Windsor Station.
More apartments are being rented in Southern Connecticut, which is benefiting multifamily properties in the Fairfield County/New Haven region in several important ways. For New Haven, this means the return of rent growth. In Fairfield County, the added demand for rentals continues to support new development. An improved outlook for both markets has also positively influenced investment activity. In 2017, multifamily operators in the New Haven metropolitan area had one of their best years since the recession, thanks to improvements on multiple fronts. Appeal for apartments has generated the second-highest net absorption level so far this decade. Demand increased in the city itself, where Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital offer numerous employment opportunities, as well as in the surrounding greater New Haven suburbs. Absorption of rental units surpassed that of deliveries by a multiple of three, facilitating a major drop in vacancy. The metro’s overall vacancy rate at the end of the first quarter was 4.7 percent, 270 basis points below where it was just two years ago. Equally important, healthier demand has also aided rent values. Monthly effective rates started to rise in 2017 after retreating in 2015 and 2016, with rent growth nearing 6 percent year over …
BLOOMFIELD, CONN. — Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, has negotiated the $26.8 million sale of The Arbors at Brighton Park, a 132-unit multifamily community in Bloomfield. Victor Nolletti, Wes Klockner and Eric Pentore of IPA represented the seller, Bloomfield Realty Partners. The buyer was an affiliate of Paredim Partners. Situated on more than 14 acres, The Arbors at Brighton Park is located within five miles of Hartford Hospital, The University of Hartford, Trinity College and the 800-acre Penwood State Park.
SOUTH WINDSOR, CONN. — KeyBank has provided a $39.5 million Freddie Mac, first mortgage loan to refinance the existing debt of Tempo Evergreen Walk Apartments in South Windsor. The 200-unit, garden-style apartment complex was built in 2018 and is made up of nine, four-story residential buildings. Tom Peloquin of KeyBank arranged the fixed-rate, non-recourse loan with an 11-year term, three years of interest only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule for the undisclosed borrower.
